Leer.



No. 707,343. Patented Aug-.19, I902. R. NAYSMITH &. B. F. REESE.

LEEB. (Application filed 33111624, 1901.)

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Ratented Aug. I9, [902. R. NAYSMITH & B. F. REESE.

LEER.

(Application filed June 24, 1901.)

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LEER.

(Application filed Julie 24. 1901.;

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Patented Aug. l9, I902. R. NAYSMITH & B. F. REESE.

L E E R;

[Application filed June 24, M301.)

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No. 707,343. Patented .19, mm. B. NAYSMITH & s. F. REESE.

L E E R.

(Application filed June 24, 1901.)

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NIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

ROBERT NAYSMITH AND BENJAMIN F. REESE, OF KITTANNING, PENNSYLVANIA.

vLEER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of -Lette1's Patent No. 707,343, dated August19, 1902'.

Application filed June 24, 1901. Serial No. 65,788. (No model. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ROBERT NAYSMITH and BENJAMIN F. REEsE, ofKittanning, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, have invented 5 a newanduseful'Leer, of, which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, in which I Figure 1 is a plan view, partlyin horizontal section, showing the frontend of the leer. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the rear or delivery end of the same. Figs. 3, 4:, and 5are vertical longitudinalfsections showing, respectively, the frontportion, the middle portion,

and the rear portionof our leer. Fig. 6 is a transverse section, theleft-hand half of which is on the line X X of Fig. 3, while therighthand half is on the line Y Y of Fig. 4. Fig.

7 is a detail side elevation showinga portion 11 a cross-section, of theparts shown in Fig.

9. Fig. 12 is a partial longitudinal section of the front end of theleer, and Fig. 13 is a side elevation of an adjusting device for thetrans fer rails and chains.

Our invention relates to leers for annealing glass, and particularly tothosefor annealing plate-glass; and its object is to provide asuccessful and practicable chain leer system therefor.

Heretofore it has beenattempted to anneal plate-glass in rod leers; butin such leers the glass has been broken in large amounts by reason ofthe vertical movement of the rods and by the different temperatures ofthe successive portions of the rods. These rods, moreover, causerod-checks upon the glass. So far as we are aware we are the first toprovide a practical chain leer for the annealing of plate-glass.-

Referring to the drawings, in which we show a preferred form of ourinvention, 2 is an inolosed chamber having a tile floor 3, and which maybe the last of a series of chambers through which the glass plates aresuccessively moved on their way to the leer. The

leer proper, 4, is connected at its front end to the chamber 2 and is inthe formof a long tunnel having transverse roof-arches 5, carried onI-bearns 6, which at the front end of the leer are supported by hangers7, depending from overhead supports 8. The glass plates are movedthrough this tunnel upon a series of longitudinal chains 9, of which wehave shown thirteen, though any desired number may be used. The links 10of these chains are carefully machined on their upper edges and arefinished in jigs, so that they will be of the same dimensions and afiorda level evenbed for the sheets. Each chain is composed of sets of theselinks with flanged wheels 11, interposed between the overlapping ends ofthe links and provided with shafts 12, extending through the link ends.The links are preferably of the form shown in the detail figures, thoughother forms of links may be used without departing from our invention.The flanges 13 of these wheels are located alternately on opposite sidesof the wheels, as clearly shown in Fig. 9, so that the chains are keptaccurately in their position upon the rails 14' of the upper track,while at the same time play is afforded to allow for the expansion andcontraction of the parts under the heat to which they are subjected.This forming of a part of the wheels with flanges upon one side and ofothers with flanges on the opposite side is an important feature of ourinvention.

The rails 14 of the upper track are of general T form and are carefullymachined or planed on their bottoms and tops to insure even supportingof the chains in the same plane. The inner and outer sides of theserail-heads are planed at an angle to fit the beveled inner faces of theflanges, as shown in Fig. 11.

To properly form the joint between the rails and at the same time allowfor expansion and contraction, we preferably fork the end of one rail orcut its central portion away to receive the end portion of the nextrail, which is cut away to fit therein, and through these overlappingportions extend bolts 15, which pass through a slot in one of the railsto allow end movement and give a slip-joint at such points.

To hold the chains in place and guide them at the joints, we provideside guides 16, as shown in Figs. 9 and 11, these being preferablysecured by the bolts 15 and having upper wings 17 with flaring mouths.These guides receive the chain between them at the joints on the uppertrack and are spaced at any desired distances apart. The upper trackextends from near the front end of the leer to apoint beyond the backend, as shown in Fig. 5, and the chains at this rear end pass oversprocket -wheels 18, mounted upon a shaft 19, driven through gear-wheel20. On the lower part of their travel the chain-rollers rest upontracks, which may consist of angleirons 21, secured to suitable verticalsupports 22, as shown in Fig. 7. This lower track is also preferablyprovided with side guides 23, (shownin Figs. 7and 8,) which hold thechains in place on their lower path.

At the front end of the leer the chains pass over curved shoes 24,supported on a crossrail 25. This rail may be adjusted vertically bywedges 25 between its upper face and the shoes. It may also be adjustedby outside wedges 27, which bear upon the lower ends of the web of therail 25, these ends projecting through slots in iron boxes 28, set inthe side walls. The wedges 27 are provided with holding-screws 28 tosecure them in adjusted position, and to clamp the rail in place afterthe wedges 25 are adjusted we provide the screws 26, which extendthrough the basefianges of the rail and bear upon the lower portions ofthe curved shoes. We may thus adjust the rail vertically and also adjustthe shoes on the rail. The rails 29 have supports 30, which are alsoprovided with adjustingscrews 31 and with end wedges, the same as thosefor supports 25. We thus do away with the necessity for sprocket-wheelsat this inner end, where they would soon get out of order, owing to thehigher temperature at this point.

To equalize the temperature on the plates, we provide a series oflongitudinal fines 32, which extend between the upper and the lowerportions of the chain from the front end of the leer for a considerableportion of its length. At their rear ends these fiues connect with across-flue leading to side chimneys 33, through which the products ofcombustion are taken away. These flues may be arranged in pairs, asindicated in the lefthand portion of Fig. 6, or in any other desirablemanner, and we have shown spaces be tween the sets of flues as filledwith concrete 34.. The floor between the rails of the upper tracks maybe formed by plates or tiles 35, and the rails themselves are preferablyembedded in refractory material 36, as shown in Fig. 6, this materialbeing filled in on both sides of the webs of these rails to protect themfrom the heat.

The lower tracks for the rails are preferably cut away at several pointsin their length to allow the chains to sag down within such portions, asshown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, so

that the weight of the chain will take up wear and lost motion and keepthem taut on the upper part of their travel.

The roof and sides of the leer are provided with openings 37, which maybe shut by suit- V Fig. 3, and the flame and products pass over thebridge-wall and through the fiues to the side chimney. The heat from thechamber 2 passes into the leer-chamber and is also drawn through thefines, and as the plates pass through the leer in the same plane theyare thoroughly annealed with little or no breakage. As the links of thechain pass through the difl'erent temperatures in the different parts ofthe leer they are all kept at a substantially even heat and checking andbreakage of the glass thus avoided. The machining of the links and railsgives an even plane-face bed for the plates, aifording uniform support.The shoes at the front end of the chain-supports do away with thenecessity for sprocket-wheels, and the whole construction is adapted forlong service and allows for the expansion and contraction of the metalparts without injuring the apparatus or the plates.

Many changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the variousparts without departing from our invention.

We claim- 1. A glass-leer having chain carriers having an upper andlower path of travel and provided with rollers, part of said rollershaving flanges on one side, and others having flanges on the oppositeside, and longitudinal supports for the rollers in the upper path of thechain; substantially as described.

2. A glass-leer having endless-chain carriers arranged with an upper andlower path of travel, side guides arranged to engage the links of thechain in the upper part of their travel, and mechanism for operating thechains; substantially as described.

8. A glass-leer having endless-chain carriers, mechanism for actuatingthe same, the links having flat upper edges forming a substantiallycontinuous surface to receive the glass, supporting-rollers at eachjoint, the peripheries of the rollers being below the said edges of thelinks in the upper path of travel, and tracks upon which the rollersmove in said upper path of travel; substantially as described.

4. A glass-leer having endless-chain carriers, mechanism for actuatingthe carriers, curved shoes over which the chains pass at the front endof their travel and mechanism IIO for adjusting the shoes; substantiallyas described.

5. A glass-leer having endless-chain carriers arranged with an'upper andlower path of travel, longitudinal rails supporting the chains in theupper part of their travel, and

guides arranged to direct the pieces of glass into the intermediatespaces between the chains; substantially as described.

6. A glass-leer having endless-chain carriers, and heating-finesextending between the upper and lower paths of the chains; substantiallyas described.

7. A glass-leerhaving endless-chain carriers with an upper and lowerpath of travel and provided with rollers, and rails supporting thechains throughout the upper part of their travel, the succeeding rollershaving flanges on alternate sides; substantially as In testimony whereofwe have hereunto set 30 our hands.

ROBT. NAYSMITH. p B. F. REESE. Witnesses:

' O. P. BYRNES,

H. M. CORWIN.

